Hopes running high in tourism sector after promising data

ANKARA

The latest data boosted morale and hopes among Turkey’s hoteliers that the local tourism industry’s performance would be much stronger this year.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey soared 94 percent to 24.7 million people last year while the country’s tourism revenues surged 103 percent to $24.5 billion, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Industry representatives said that the target for 2022 is to reach the levels seen back in 2019 and break new records in terms of visitors and revenues in 2023.

Four years ago, Turkey welcomed more than 45 million foreign tourists. As the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic-related restrictions hit the global travel and tourism industry, foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey dropped to 12.7 million in 2020.
Turkey decoupled from its main competitors in tourism, mainly thanks to cooperation between the public and private sector, said Erkan Yağcı, head of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Investors’ Association (AKTOB).

After the pandemic broke out, Turkey launched the Safe Tourism Certificate scheme to lure holidaymakers to the country.
Under the program, officials pay visit to hotels and other tourist venues to check if those establishments meet the requirements to ensure a safe stay for their guests.

“The latest data is cause for optimism…And we should remember that we reached those figures last year under the pandemic conditions,” Yağcı said.

The targets, which were set for 2021, were attained even though the tourism figures were still short of what the country saw back in 2019, said Müberra Eresin, head of the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB).

“But the momentum is there. Given the strong demand for Turkey, we are optimistic that things will improve further starting the second half of 2022, we maintain our expectation for double-digit growth in tourism,” Eresin said.